I’m a little late on this, but I love what happened with the Vikings on Sunday.
1) Brad Childress, Minnesota coach, wants to bench Brett Favre.
2) Brad Childress tells Brett Favre he’s about to be benched.
3) Brett Favre yells at Brad Childress.
4) Brad Childress keeps Brett Favre in the game.
Favre supporters point to these sort of episodes and say they show the quarterback’s true guts and grits and character. Favre detractors (ie: Jets fans) point to these sort of episodes and say they show the quarterback’s selfishness. I point to these sort of episodes and wonder, What sort of wuss coach lets his quarterback boss him around?
These are the sort of moments that kill coaches. ESPN’s flock of talking heads made an enormous deal about the confrontation on the day after the game, but their points were terribly off. This wasn’t, as they described it, a QB and a coach in an isolated heated discussion. This was a coach admitting, “I have only limited control, and if my top players challenge me, they’ll generally win.” Truth be told, it was a moment that could have gone either way. Had Childress screamed, “Sit the f*&^ down!” at Favre, he would have immediately anointed himself chief and general for life; or, at least, the new Bud Grant.
Instead, he cowered and slunk.
The new Les Stekel.
